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The grocery store may just be your biggest saboteur if you’re trying to lose weight! There are aisles and aisles of endless temptations.

Learn to be a smarter shopper to keep your weight loss goals on track. Try these tips during your grocery shopping this week. You’ll save money and pounds – a win-win we can all live with.

1. Make a list and stick to it.
Food shopping from a list will help you buy only foods you need, will cut down on the number of tempting “extras” that you have around the house, and save you money at the same time!

2. Stick to the outer walls and don’t wander the aisles.
The foods you need to lose weight are usually stocked around the outer walls of the store – fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, dairy, and breads. Processed and pre-packaged foods are normally kept in the inner aisles.

3. Leave the debit and credit cards at home.
Estimate how much the items on your list will cost. Bring just enough cash to pay for the items on your list, then you won’t need willpower to leave without those tempting foods.

4. Never shop on an empty stomach.
When you’re hungry, almost all food looks appetizing. And those less-healthy, high-calorie snack foods are often the easiest to open and eat quickly, making them even more appealing for instant satisfaction. Food shopping while hungry is an open invitation for impulse buying. Make sure to eat before you go so that the sights and smells of food (like desserts from the bakery or fried chicken at the deli) will be less enticing.

5. Save a few pennies or save a few pounds.
Sometimes grocery stores make offers that are hard to resist like “buy one gallon of ice cream and get a second one free.” When evaluating a bargain, ask yourself whether you are better off saving a few pennies or a few pounds. Do you really want 2 gallons of ice cream in your freezer?

6. Buy “junk” foods you don’t like.
When buying “junk” foods family members have ask for or because you’re entertaining guests, buy the one you like least. If you don’t like nuts, buy the cookies, ice cream, or candy with nuts. That way you’ll be less tempted to eat any or very much of it.

7. Read nutrition labels before buying.
Claims on food labels can sometimes be confusing. Even if a packaging says the item has “no added sugar” or that it’s “fat free,” it may still contain sugar and a lot of calories. Too often, we wait until we get home to read the nutrition facts.